Adrian Wolfenden, pictured with his pet Rosie, smashed the dog groomers’ window after his bichon frise was shaved
A dog owner smashed a grooming parlour window after his bichon frise was shaved ‘completely bald’.
Adrian Wolfenden, 59, expected to collect his beloved pooch Rosie with beautifully coiffed fur but he and wife Georgina were greeted by a groomer who’d given the dog a ‘skinhead’ allegedly to speed up the appointment so she could get her legs waxed.
The carpet fitter launched a brick through the window of Holmfirth Dog Grooming in West Yorkshire, terrifying a teenage girl and a shop worker.
He and his beautician wife Georgina, 44, were distraught when their cute pet was returned to them with her ‘fluffy and curly hair’ completely shaved off, despite them regularly paying for trims.
The couple had paid £30 to have Rosie spruced up at the grooming parlour, a court heard.
Speaking today, he explained: ‘We had used the groomers before for Rosie and been happy with the service.
‘This second time we dropped her off at lunchtime and asked the girl to bath Rosie, brush and trim her fur and sort out her claws.
‘But when I went to collect Rosie I didn’t recognise her as my dog, I thought she was somebody else’s.
‘Rather than a light trim she was shaved down to the bone and had a skinhead.’
Wolfenden, 59, expected to collect his beloved pooch Rosie (pictured after incident) with beautifully coiffed fur but he and wife Georgina were greeted by a groomer who’d given the dog a ‘skinhead’ allegedly to speed up the appointment so she could get her legs waxed
Mrs Wolfenden said: ‘I burst into tears and Rosie was shaking.
‘Rosie’s fur is normally about an inch to an inch and a half long and it keeps her warm. The groomers had just taken all that off for speed.
‘When I asked the groomer why she’d done it she replied she had been in a rush because she was off to get her legs waxed.’
Holmfirth Dog Grooming offered to reimburse half the £30 fee but Mr Wolfenden was not happy.
‘I was upset and went round later and put a brick through the groomer’s window,’ he said. ‘I am sorry for what I did, I’m an idiot and should not have done it, but the groomer had done a really bad job.’
He pleaded guilty to a charge of criminal damage at the Huddersfield court where he was slammed by a district judge for taking the law into his own hands.
Prosecutor Jill Seddon told Kirklees Magistrates’ Court that the victim was Vickie Cahill, who runs the dog grooming business which is based in Norridge Bottom, Holmfirth.
‘Mr Wolfenden was not happy about the service she provided in relation to his dog and there was an argument about that,’ she said. ‘She offered him half of his money back and he left the store.’
The carpet fitter (pictured outside Kirkless Magistrates Court) launched a brick through the window of Holmfirth Dog Groming in West Yorkshire, terrifying a teenage girl and a shop worker. He was convicted and ordered to pay a fine
The next day Ms Cahill realised that the shop window had been smashed. Blood left by the window linked Wolfenden, of Lower Greave Road in Meltham, Huddersfield, to the crime and he was arrested.
He denied any wrongdoing in interview but pleaded guilty to the offence at court.
Mike Sisson-Pell, mitigating, said: ‘It seems people think so much of their pets that if they think an offence has been committed against them they react out of all proportion.
‘This dog is a little bichon frise, loved by the family. A cute little dog that has fluffy, curly hair.
‘The dog was taken for its hair to be trimmed and when they went to collect the dog, the dog had been shaved completely bald. That caused great distress and Mr Wolfenden’s wife was in tears.’
Mr Sisson-Pell told the court that Wolfenden demanded his money back but was only given half of the cash he spent.
‘He lost his temper and broke the window. He was in distress at what happened to the dog,’ he said.
Crime scene: Holmfirth Dog Grooming Centre, West Yorkshire
‘Looking back he says ‘what a plonker’, that he just made the situation worse. He realises how stupid he’s been and has come to court today, accepted my advice and pleaded guilty.’
District Judge Adrian Lower described the offence as ‘stupid’.
‘If everyone who ever had a disagreement with a business took the law into their own hands by smashing windows when something upset them then we’d be in a terrible state,’ he said.
‘We live in a civilised society and you deal with matters like these through the civil courts.’
Wolfenden was ordered to pay £100 compensation to Ms Cahill as well as a £80 fine and £85 court costs.
After the case Ms Cahill, 35, said she had never experienced a reaction like that from a client before.
She said she and a teenage Saturday girl were in the shop at the time and both were ‘really frightened’.
She said the dog’s hair was really ‘knotty’ and rather than hurt it by trying to brush out the knots she decided to remove it.
‘I did what was best for the dog,’ she said. ‘I have been in business nearly 18 years and have never experienced anything like that before.’